CONGRESSIONAL NOTEBOOK

"Congressional Notebook" is a collection of
items about Delaware's delegation in Washington.
It takes a look at the 2010 congressional race, judicial nominations and one member's claim to fame.

The Democrats were desperate to have either Jack
Markell or John Carney peel off, leaving one for
governor and one for Delaware's single seat in the House of
Representatives.

The voters sorted out what the Democratic leadership
never did. Carney eventually agreed to run for the
Congress -- just a campaign cycle too late.

The rivalry for governor was traumatic for the party.
It is relieved to have a race for the House not divided
against itself.

More than relieved, actually. The Democrats, here and
in Washington, are
downright cheerful. They expect Carney to flip the seat
from Republican to Democrat after the 9-term tenure of
Mike Castle, who declared he is more likely to run for
the Senate or retire than run for re-election.

"We've been listed as one of the top Democratic
races. They say they're very excited about this. I'd
like to believe what they say," Carney said.

Carney, who was the lieutenant governor for eight
years
while Ruth Ann Minner was the governor, is working these
days as an executive in green energy technology, like
wind power.

It is turning him into a politician with business
experience, although a politician really ought to think
twice before associating himself with a business that
makes its decisions based on which way the wind blows.
Voters do not need any new reasons to think about
politicians that way.

Carney advanced his cause by turning in a solid
fund-raising effort for
the first three months of his candidacy. At the end of
June, he reported $235,000 in his treasury, a respectable
down payment on what Castle typically spends on a
campaign -- $1.8 million in 2008 and $1.1 million in
2006.

Carney had some help from Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman,
the state's Democratic senators. They hosted a breakfast
for him in Washington last month along with Rep. Chris
Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who chairs the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Washington has taken notice. Roll Call, a newspaper
that covers Capitol Hill, wrote in its July 17 edition,
"He is likely to waltz to winning the House seat next
year."

Delaware Republicans have noticed, too. Tom Ross, the
state chair, is trying to soften Carney up.

"He would be an interesting candidate. I don't know
what he would tell people as to why they should vote for
him," Ross said. "He's a nice guy, but he didn't have
the courage to stand up for what was right for Delaware
when he was one of two people leading the state. I don't
know how you'd expect his voice to be heard when he's
one of 435."

If only the Republicans had a candidate with the
courage to stand up against him . . .

# # #

One president and a congressional delegation ago,
Delaware needed a new judge for the U.S. District Court
here. It still does.

The four-judge bench has been working short since
December 2006, when Judge Kent Jordan moved up to the
Third Circuit Court.

Procrastination killed a judicial appointment for
Colm Connolly, the U.S. attorney who has moved on to
private practice in Philadelphia. The Bush
administration, which was supposed to be full of
friendly Republicans, took its own time in nominating
him. The Senate, which had an indifferent, if not
hostile, Democratic majority, took a cue from the White
House and ran the calendar out.

For once, there was an example of the Republican
administration and the Democratic Senate in accord on
how to do something. Maybe bipartisanship is not always
what it is cracked up to be.

Time has passed, as have the presidency from Bush to
Obama and the congressional delegation from
Biden-Carper-Castle to Carper-Kaufman-Castle.

Carper, as the senior senator, sent three judicial
candidates to the new administration about three months
ago for consideration, offering up Andre Bouchard and
Mary Graham, both lawyers, and Leonard Stark, a U.S.
magistrate judge.

Carper's office has yet to be given a timeline on the
nomination, so the delay goes on. There is still no
change for the federal court to believe in.

# # #

Ted Kaufman got to the Senate because of his honorary
membership in the Biden clan and a wink from the new
vice president to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, not to mention
the great seat she got for the presidential
inauguration.

Not surprisingly, Kaufman looked for a way to forge
his own identity in the two years he will have in the
chamber. He thought he found one when he was told that
Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, was the only other
senator with an engineering degree. Kaufman has a degree
in mechanical engineering from Duke and worked for
DuPont before he got involved with Joe Biden, beginning
with the first senatorial campaign in 1972.

Kaufman approached Reed to suggest they anchor some
sort of engineering caucus, perhaps with an eye to
promoting science and engineering as an element of
economic recovery.

Reed demurred. He explained there was really only one
engineer in the Senate and it was Kaufman. Reed has an
engineering degree simply because he went to West Point,
which bestows them on all of its military graduates,
regardless of their field of study.